Obama And The Two Irans
John Edwards based his Presidential run on the “Two Americas” theme, arguing that there was one America for the rich and another America for the poor. After witnessing the failure of the “Two Americas” platform, Barack Obama has now initiated his “Two Iran’s” platform. One Iran poses no threat to us, while the other is a “grave” threat.
While speaking in Oregon two days ago, Obama said:
” mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us….You know, Iran, they spend one-one hundredth of what we spend on the military. If Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
It is that last sentence that I find particularly amusing, where he states that if Iran ever tried to pose a threat to us, they wouldn’t stand a chance. This implies that they currently do not pose and a threat, and if they ever did, Obama would have no qualms about wiping them out.
Now here is Obama yesterday in Montana:
“Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the region and militias in Iraq. It threatens Israel’s existence. It denies the Holocaust…
Of course, alot can happen in a period of 24 hours, but are we expected to believe that Iran became a threat to us overnight? More likely Obama based his words on his audience, with no regard for the truth. While speaking in moderately liberal Oregon which voted 51.4% in favor of Kerry in 2004, he stated that Iran was not a threat, implying no confrontation with them would be necessary. While speaking in the conservative State of Montana which voted about 60% for Bush in 2004, he emphasized that Iran actually was a threat, making it a point to mention their nuclear program.
It is the nuclear program which is of the biggest concern to President Bush and the reason for the subject of Iran coming up in the first place. Obama is living in denial when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program, while he acknowledges its existence he does not acknowledge the real threat posed by it simply because Iran does not have nuclear weapons yet. Rather than deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons however, Obama would prefer to be “diplomatic” with them in the hopes that they change their mind. Once Iran acquires nukes, it would be then that Obama would fully recognize the threat and be forced to negotiate from a position of weakness rather than strength.
While on the subject of acknowledged threats, I think it is important to also point out Obama’s insistence that Iran was not a serious threat due to the size of their military budget. This exemplifies the liberal mindset that in order for something to be productive you must first throw alot of money at it. As Ed Morrissey correctly points out, Al Qaeda’s budget is less than 0.5% of Iran’s declared defense budget:
Al Qaeda’s funds were dispersed just as quickly as they were brought in. The CIA estimated that prior to September 11, al Qaeda spent $30 million dollars annually, $10-$20 million of which went to the Taliban.
Should we now believe that Obama does not consider Al Qaeda a threat to the United States as well, considering how miniscule their spending is? More Captain Ed:
No one thinks that Iran could conduct a military invasion of the United States, but that isn’t the point. They can fund hundreds if not thousands of 9/11-style infiltration attacks, and if they can start producing nuclear weapons, they can level American cities without having the Revolutionary Guard leave Iranian turf. And right now, they’re using some of that money to kill more American soldiers in Iraq than the Soviets ever did in Germany.
The more I listen to Obama speak about foreign policy, the more I am beginning to believe that Ron Paul would be his likely choice for Secretary of State.
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I think I know who you’re voting for…
The fact is, my misguided poverty-is-completely-the-fault-of-the-individual-never-the-state-because-it’s-their-fault-they-just-weren’t-smart-enough-to-graduate-and-not-the-fault-of-an-overfunded-yet-embarrassingly-executed-education-policy friend (in typical McCain fashion, my friend), that compared to the threat the Soviet Union posed, the threat posed by Iran, a nation our own intelligence agencies CONFIRMED had abandoned any nuclear weapons program it might have had FIVE YEARS AGO, in 2003 (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/03/america/cia.php), is at best negligible. What you and the rest of the right wing fail to understand is that we’ve given Israel, a country that essentially engaged in genocide, killing MILLIONS of Palestinians to take over their native land, preferential treatment for more than half a century, while Israel’s flaunted its nuclear artillery, compliments of Uncle Sam, to the rest of the Middle East in derision. And… that… breeds… contempt, not just for Israel, but for the folks that gave them those weapons… Oh my! That’s us!! What a novel concept… Could it be that that, too, coupled with our interventionist foreign policy–you know, the kind where we subvert foreign governments on a vagary and obtrude on its people western ideology–was the cause of the attacks on 11 September 2001? NO! It couldn’t have possibly been OUR fault…
And as a consequence of that, Iran, along with the rest of the Middle East, is, as you might term it, ‘pissed.’ Wouldn’t you be, if you had a brother, and your parents bought that brother of yours anything and everything he wanted and didn’t even look your way? Might you even… want to do that sibling of yours harm…? Is it sinking in yet? I’m sorry if I seem to be condescending here, but from the looks of your sensationalist right wing drivel, your at best tenuous arguments, and your total ignorance of the facts that undergird not just this presidential campaign–which McCain will lose, by the way–but the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Iranian conflicts, I might just have to be to get through to ya, MY FRIEND.
I’m bookmarking your blog, in keen anticipation of your response.
Well said P, you echoed Obama’s statements almost identically. In one paragraph you imply they are not a threat:
“the threat posed by Iran, a nation our own intelligence agencies CONFIRMED had abandoned any nuclear weapons program it might have had FIVE YEARS AGO, in 2003, is at best negligible.”
While in the next paragraph justifying their reasons for wanting to do us harm:
“And… that… breeds… contempt, not just for Israel, but for the folks that gave them those weapons… Oh my! That’s us!! What a novel concept… Could it be that that, too, coupled with our interventionist foreign policy–you know, the kind where we subvert foreign governments on a vagary and obtrude on its people western ideology–was the cause of the attacks on 11 September 2001? NO! It couldn’t have possibly been OUR fault…
And as a consequence of that, Iran, along with the rest of the Middle East, is, as you might term it, ‘pissed.’ ”
So which is it? Are they a threat or not?
Parsed like a good conservative. I was outlining the reasons WHY the countries in the Middle East might want to do us harm after making the point that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program… But you seem to have completely elided the point I was making in favor of looking a bit smarter. That’s the way it works on the right, I suppose. How about a real response?
Sorry P, I completely ignored your “point” that Iran had abandoned it’s nuclear program because that is completely untrue.
Read Here
“The IAEA’s last report on Iran back in February contained intelligence showing the Islamic republic had engaged in studies, engineering work and procurement relevant to the design and weaponisation of a nuclear device.
At the time, Iran simply dismissed the allegations as baseless and the intelligence used to back it up as fake.
But the IAEA insisted that such a response was not acceptable and Tehran must present evidence to prove it was not engaged in any such studies.”
The only thing in dispure is wether or not they are weaponizing their nuclear program, noone is claiming they do not have one.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:15 pm
[…] had written yesterday about Obama and the two Iran’s, noting that he had given a very different impression about the threat they pose from one day to […]
Jun 19th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
[…] Obama campaign is the changing of his mind. Last month we witnessed Obama tell one audience that Iran does not pose a serious threat to us, while telling another audience the next day that pose a grave threat to us. Today Obama has […]